The Forgotten Jedi - Rey Skywalker // Book V in A Spark of Hope

Chapter Forty Two- Ben.

I step off of the ship and onto the planets dirt grounds. It's dusty here, and there's not a patch of grass anywhere to be found. The sky is red like the ground and the air is dry and thick.

"Is this it?" I ask Nathan, who stands a few feet ahead of me.

"Yeah," he says, squinting as he looks up, the bright sun hitting his eyes. "this is it."

"Sheesh, it's hot here." Lyra comments. "It's like a billion degrees. What type of planet is this?"

"You think this is hot?" Luke asks, laughing. "You guys would not hold up well living on Tatooine. It's about ninety-nine times worse."

"Why not a hundred times?" Poe asks.

"Well, people always use a 'hundred' times or 'ten' times. I decided why not switch it up a bit." Luke replies. "So it's ninety-nine."

I sigh, "So, where is this place? And who is all going?"

"It's about an hour walk from here." Nathan says, then quickly continues. "I think that Rose, Lyra, and Caden should stay back and watch the ship. The rest of us can go in."

"What?" Rose demands.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want to go in?" Nathan asks. "'Cause you can, if you'd-"

"—I dont mean that," Rose replies, then adds: "Idiot." to the sentence before continuing. "I mean, what do you mean 'it's about an hour walk from here'? Why so far away?"

"I don't want them to spot our ship," Nathan shrugs.

"You except us to walk in this a billion degree heat?" Leia asks. "No offense, Nathan, but are you stupid?"

Lyra, Poe, Finn, Rose and Caden all snort.

"Can't get offended about the truth."

"What kind of question is that?"

"He is stupid."

"The stupidest."

"You didn't know that?"

"Okay, alright!" Nathan says. "I get I may be a bit paranoid-"

"—And stupid-"

"—And stupid, for landing the ship all the way over here." Nathan continues. "But I didn't want to cause any suspicion."

Luke sighs, "Alright." then starts walking up the hill that we landed beside.

"What are you doing?" Nathan calls after him.

"Walking— Nathan, you really are stupid!" Luke replies.

"I know that!" Nathan snaps, chasing after him.

"It's better if we start walking now," Luke states. "I don't want my little Sunshine to be locked up in that place another minute."

"Yeah, well it's gonna be another minute, it'll probably be another year 'cause Nathan landed so far away." Poe says, now walking alongside the two.

"I get it!"

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose tightly. "Will this day ever end?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Jessika says, startling me. I turn around to face her, seeing that she's standing right beside me. "I don't know about you, but that ride back there felt like it took a hundred years."

"It did." I agree, nodding.

"Alright lovebirds, stop flirting and start walking." Lyra says, this time startling the two of us. "I'd like to get there sometime this decade."

"Wait, you aren't going." Jessika says.

Lyra sighs, "Yeah, that's what Nathan said, but I decided... nah, I'm gonna go, so now I'm coming with you guys." Lyra informs. "Rose and Caden are staying behind. Anyway, lets get going."

Both Jess and I watch as Lyra starts walking off into the distance. Jessika then sighs, and I look at her. "We should probably follow, before we really lose them."

"Good idea,"

~

It feels like we've been walking for an eternity.

Which in reality, it's probably only been an hour. Nathan says 'we're getting close' but he's been saying that for an hour now. We all agreed it'd be better if we walked in silence, after Poe sang a whole entire twenty one pilots album at the top of his lungs.

It's not that his voice is terrible, it's just he kept getting the lyrics wrong.

After walking for an hour (though, like I said, it felt like an eternity), we finally come to a stop at a... small village.

What the heck?

"Where are we?" Lyra asks the question we're all thinking.

"Uh, the home of one of the people I kidnapped." Nathan explains. "Did I not tell you guys that?"

"No!"

"You're telling me, we flew like ten hours then walked all this way in this heat, only to visit the house of one of your victims?" Poe asks. "Nathan, I'm not a kidnapper so I wouldn't know, but isn't that like a huge mistake?"

Nathan rolls his eyes, "Follow me, then you'll see what we're doing."

Han groans, "Please don't tell me we're kidnapping someone else!"

"No!" Nathan exclaims, beginning to walk into the small village. "We're visiting his family."

"What if they have weapons?" Finn asks. "What if they try killing us?"

"They won't," Nathan insists. "I took him when he was walking alone in the evening. There was no witnesses— well, except for his little brother. But he's like four so I doubt he'll remember me. It happened ten months ago."

"I'm pretty sure he'll remember the scary man who kidnapped his brother." Luke says. "He's four not stupid."

"Wait a minute, you kidnapped a child?" Lyra asks. "You have a son!"

"Yeah, well it was either that kid or my kid." Nathan snaps. "Now shut up, we're here."

We're now standing outside of a cottage. And, you guessed it, it's red.

Everything on this planet it red.

The trees are red, the ground is red, the sky is red, everything.

Nathan hesitates, but then knocks on the red door. It takes awhile, but soon a woman opens the door. She's surprisingly not red or wearing red. She's actually wearing yellow. I'm surprised, yellow is the total opposite of red.

"Hello?" she greets us. "Um, do I know you?"

"Uh, yes, I mean, no." Nathan says. "Well, kinda. Can I-"

A scream cuts him off.

The woman quickly turns around, and there stands no one other then a little boy. He's probably around the age of four. The woman— who I assume is his mom, apologizes to us as she walks towards the young boy. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"That's him!" he cries. "That's the man who kidnapped Andy!"

—

Authors Note:

Meet Andrew's family!

I promise, the next chapter will be less of a filler. Hope y'all liked it, though. Thanks for reading!